Familiar, But Friendly
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: Juniper meets some monster aliens that really are just big softies. My first time writing Juniper Lee, so please, be gentle in the reviews.


**I was inspired by the picture called "Monster Mash" done by KoochieKoochieToons on Deviantart, and the comments on the picture, to write this story. :) **

**Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Life And Times Of Juniper Lee belongs to its respective owners. I only own Rachel. **

**A/N: Please be gentle in the reviews. This is my first time writing Juniper Lee in a story, so please be gentle. Thank you. :)**

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**Familiar, But Friendly**

Juniper Lee, the girl that could see monsters, was far away from her home as she had gotten word about monsters living in California and apparently there were people who had seen them and claimed them to be dangerous.

As a guardian, June had to look into it, though she was curious when she heard the monsters lived in a large house and haunted it, scaring away intruders. It honestly sounded like a Halloween prank which had originally made her laugh, but then her dog insisted that she look into it.

"It could be that the monsters have found a way to be seen," he said.

She hated to admit it, but he was right, thus she was now in Staybrook, California, and paused to ask someone for directions. "I'm looking for the Grant Mansion," she said in her nicest voice to a young couple.

They froze when she said that. "You are looking for the haunted place?" The man asked. "Why?"

"No reason," June said, noting his behavoir. "What's wrong? Are there ghosts up there?"

She meant this teasingly, but the male and female both turned white. "Yes, it is," the lady said. "No one dares to go there."

Another man chimed in. "Bad dealings there. That girl Rachel is trouble," he said.

June shook her head, seeing how afraid they were. "It can't be any worse than some Halloween decorations," she said.

"It's worse than that," another lady said. "There's been kidnappings from the girl inside the mansion. She has forced those she has kidnapped to stay in the mansion forever."

Now the guardian was curious. "Where is the Grant Mansion?" She asked.

"Outside of town up on a high hill," the first man said. "There's a big, wrought-iron gate. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," she said and began her trek.

It about about ten minutes later that she reached the outskirts of town and in the not-so-far distance, she saw a large, old mansion on a hill. "That must be it," she said as she continued walking, reaching the gate and opening it, slipping inside before closing it. "Huh, nothing so far."

Inside the mansion, five pairs of eyes and a single eye watched the girl as she climbed up the hill. "Ah, it's her," said one of them.

"She is in the database," said another.

"Why is she here?" A third one asked.

"Curiosity?" Said a fourth.

"Let her come in and we shall see," said a fifth one.

"I'll follow her," said a sixth one before he vanished, still watching the girl approach.

June knocked first, but after a moment, tried the knob and found it unlocked. "Huh, guess no one lives here," she said aloud. Despite this, she cautiously entered the house, glancing around. "Hmm, though the décor says otherwise."

While the outside of the house looked old, but well-kept, the inside was done in beautiful carpets and other items that made it feel homey. She also noted that there seemed to be quite a bit of technology too. "That's a lot of tech," she said to herself before selecting a hallway and walking towards a set of doors, unaware that she was being followed.

The first three doors led to a rec room, what looked to be a school room, and a storage room. "Huh, looks normal," she said. "Though I wonder why they have a school room here? Was this home once a school?"

The fourth door made her stop in surprise before she began chuckling. "Well, guess they like Frankenstein stuff," she said, noting that the lab looked like a mad scientist lab, but a room beyond that looked like a hospital along with some other odd objects. A quick look on her phone told her that the objects were used for when babies were born or born prematurely. "A hospital too? Looks like this place has everything, but why?"

"Curious, are you?" A voice asked and she whirled around in surprise, dropping into a fighting stance as a ghost materialized in front of her, seeming surprised that she wasn't running away. "You're not afraid?"

"Oh, please," June scoffed. "Halloween holographics and tricks don't fool me."

The ghost had to chuckle. "You've got spunk," he said. "But I'm not a hologram and neither are the rest of us."

Before the girl's eyes, five other monsters appeared. A mummy, a werewolf, a Frankenstein monster, a vampire, and a slime monster. She felt a little nervous because these monsters looked strong, but she lifted her chin high and looked ready to take them down. To her confusion, the monsters chuckled in amusement.

"The stories we've heard are true," the mummy said. "She is brave."

"Perhaps we should get better acquainted with her," the werewolf said, his tail swishing gently behind him.

"We haven't had a new visitor in a long time," the slime monster said in a squeaky voice, one that June had to admit sounded too cute to be evil, but she wasn't going to let her guard down.

"I'm curious about this little one as well," the vampire said, his green eyes flashing, something else that caught June's attention. As far as she knew, vampires didn't have green eyes, but then again, some monsters she had met didn't always look like the stereotypical versions some movies and stories made them out to be.

"Let us capture her then," the Frankenstein monster said, grinning.

June took a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching the six monsters closely before seeing the ghost move towards her. Thinking fast, she lashed out a kick which went right through him because he turned intangible at the last second. Using the momentum to her advantage, she did a no-handed cartwheel and punched towards the slime monster, who dodged and quickly swarmed around her legs, but she jumped back to avoid getting caught. "She's fast," the slime monster commented.

"Impressive," the mummy said with a smile before lashing out his bandages towards the girl. She dodged those too with speed and agility, though one did catch her around her ankle. Surprised, she tried to pull free, but claws, hands, and tentacles suddenly surrounded her, tying her up along with the bandages.

"But we've proven to be faster than our captive many times," the vampire said.

"Let's get her over there," the werewolf said, indicating to where the Frankenstein monster was standing.

June struggled as they dragged her, gently she noticed, to a table with leather cuffs on both ends and the monsters set her down on it, strapping down her legs and arms despite her struggling. A large hand rested on her head and she glared up at the Frankenstein monster, who looked amused. "Calm down, Juniper. My associates and I will not hurt you," he said.

She glared at him. "Yeah, right," she said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have me strapped down, monsters."

"Wow, she really is gutsy," the werewolf said with a chuckle.

"Let's get her," the ghost said, his tentacles waving in the air as did the mummy's tendrils.

The vampire removed June's shoes and socks, which confused her for a bit before she felt something soft brush over her feet and she let out a yelp of surprise, trying to pull her feet away, but they were firmly strapped down. "Well, well, do we have a ticklish victim in our midst?" The vampire asked with a chuckle.

"I get her stomach!" The slime monster said in glee.

"I get her knees," the ghost said with a chuckle.

"I'll get her underarms," the mummy said.

"Her neck is mine," the vampire said.

"I'll get her feet then," the werewolf said.

"I'll help you with that," the Frankenstein said.

June struggled, but the straps held firm as fingers, claws, tentacles, and tendrils descended upon her trapped form, wiggling like crazy into her tickle spots. The sensations immediately made her squirm and laugh as the monsters chuckled in amusement, though the girl did notice that while they were tickling her to pieces, they were actually being very gentle too, which didn't make sense if they were monsters. A finger tickled her belly button and she squealed at that. "Oh, she's got a ticklish belly button," the slime monster said with a giggle as he focused on that spot for a bit, making June squeal again before her laughter took over.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOHO! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" She laughed out, squealing again when her belly button was tickled.

"Ah, listen to that cute laughter," the mummy said with a smile.

"Music to my ears," the vampire said, his claws gently wiggling all over the girl's neck and though she tried to scrunch up her neck into her shoulders, that didn't stop him.

The werewolf and Frankenstein tickled right under the girl's toes, which seemed to be another spot that made her squeal. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" The latter monster said with a grin.

"Who's our ticklish captive?" The werewolf asked with an amused laugh.

"Let's make her really squeal," the slime monster said. "Raspberries."

"An excellent idea," the ghost said.

June tried to squirm again, but couldn't escape as each of them took turns blowing raspberries into her neck and stomach, especially right on her belly button.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP! NOHOHOT THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!" She pleaded, squealing again when they continued. "SOMEONE, HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHELP!"

"Will you stay put if we let you up?" The mummy asked.

The odd question made her wonder what they were going to do, but she was really getting desperate for them to stop tickling her as she was reaching her limit. "PLEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE! IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI'LL DOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO ANYTHING! JUHUHUHUHUST STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP, PLEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!"

"Alright, let her up," the vampire said, seeing the girl's energy starting to look a little dim. "She's at her limit."

To June's relief, they all stopped and she lay there on the table trying to catch her breath as she felt them take the restraints off and the mummy gently picked her up. "Let's get her to the living room," he said.

"Good idea," the werewolf said.

The girl was too tired to really care, but she was grateful all the same. A couple tendrils brushed some of her dark hair away from her face and she looked up at the mummy, who smiled at her. "Don't worry, kiddo. We'll take care of you," he said in a fatherly way, something else that surprised her before they came to the living room and he set her down on the couch with the upmost gentleness while the werewolf grabbed a blanket and placed it around her and the ghost came in with a glass of water, handing it to her. Her surprise must have shown on her face because they chuckled again in amusement.

"Don't worry, Juniper, you're safe here," the slime monster said.

"What kind of monsters are you?" She asked. "And how do you know my name?"

"Because you're in the Plumber database, Miss Lee."

The new voice made her look up to see a cat-like person wearing what looked like armor and a young woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, glasses, and jeans and a t-shirt stood beside him, both smiling warmly. The woman came forward. "I hope you boys didn't scare this poor girl to death," she said in a slightly scolding, but teasing voice.

"We couldn't," the vampire said. "She's fearless."

"No doubt because she is used to monsters," the cat-like person said.

"How do you know that?" June asked. "And...who are you guys?"

The woman smiled. "I'm Rachel Jocklin," she said and gestured to the others. "These 'monsters' are actually aliens."

"Aliens?" The girl repeated in surprise. "For real? You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

The mummy playfully grabbed her ankle and gave her leg a gentle tug. "No, but I am," he said with a chuckle.

June giggled and tugged her ankle from his grasp. Rachel smiled. "My brothers are fierce defenders, but they also are big, playful softies on the inside," she said, giggling when the slime monster tickled her sides playfully.

The young girl had to smile. "I kind of guessed that when they were tickling me," she said before seeing the cat-like person come up to her.

"I am Rook Blonko, Miss Lee," he said with a warm smile. "And these are my associates. Snare-Oh, Frankenstrike, Ghostfreak, Goop, Whampire, and Blitzwolfer."

As he spoke their names, the monsters waved and June looked up at him. "You said I'm in a...Plumber?...database?" She asked. "Why would I be in a database of people that fix toilets and sinks?"

Amused laughter filled the room as they all laughed for a moment before calming down and Rachel sat beside the girl. "The Plumbers are actually a group of intergalactic police officers," she said. "My wonderful fiancée and brothers are a big part of them."

She smiled at Rook when she said the 'fiancée' part, making him smile lovingly back at her.

June was again surprised. "Okay, but why would I be in their database?" She asked.

"Every person, be they a hero, villain, or civilian, is in our database so that we know about them and what work they do," Frankenstrike said.

"This also helps us to identify the heroes so we don't accidentally arrest them," Whampire said.

"Huh. That makes sense," she said. "But...why do you guys have a school room, a lab, and a hospital here too?"

"The Grant Mansion is more than just a home for us aliens," Goop said. "We also take in others who need help. Young men, women, and children. We've even had some pregnant mothers take refuge up here."

"My lab is mostly for experiments and for examining injured patients, while the hospital part is for someone who is very sick or for a woman giving birth, along with neonatal equipment in case a baby is born prematurely," Frankenstrike explained.

"Many of us aliens met our future wives and children in those that have come here for refuge," Ghostfreak said.

"And we home-school the children due to too many incidents with bullies," Rachel said, looking a little sad. "Most people spread rumors about this place because they don't like me or my family."

June sighed. "I dislike people like that," she admitted before looking sheepish. "By the way, I'm sorry for breaking and entering. I had gotten word about monsters here in California and that other people could see them, so I came here to check it out."

"Oh, others have seen us, when we're scaring them away because they were looking for trouble," Whampire said.

"So, why didn't you try to scare me away?" The girl asked.

"Because we knew who you were and wanted to meet you and find out why you were here," Blitzwolfer said.

"Not only that, we could tell you weren't here to cause trouble," Goop said.

"And we wanted to see if you were ticklish," Snare-Oh said.

June couldn't help laughing at that. "You guys are good at tickle tortures," she admitted. "Remind me never to challenge you guys to a tickle fight."

They all laughed again as the mummy playfully ruffled her hair, to which she didn't mind and Rachel offered June to stay for lunch while Rook offered to give her a ride back home after. The girl accepted gratefully, giggling when the aliens not only cheered, but hugged her too. She returned the friendly hugs, glad to see that while these aliens looked like some familiar monsters, they were friendly all the same and had deemed her a friend, something that was a nice change from the usual.

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**Again, please be gentle in the reviews. Also, as I'm not overly familiar with Juniper Lee, I'm unable to take any Juniper Lee requests at this time, though I might do more depending on my muse. **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


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